Alkali silicate product and method of making same



106. cowosnmus, cat-W COATING OR PLASTIC. I

atent d Aug 13, ioze.

M l jl elu-awin r Application mainly to, 1927 senalluuifznasu.

k; r This inven i n r l imp 'i silicateiothervvise eizcessive lating and sound-proofing products and to strati tion .into layers of substantially a 'rocess of making them. "It has for its varying'moisture content is-aptto occur. ;.-In

chief object the economical production of mathis mannerthe evaporation of. a-thickness 5 terials vhaving great heat 'insulatin and of solution above mentioned may becarried 00 sound-proofing properties from alka' .silioutin one hour or less. H I H 1' 1 cates or mixtures containing chiefly' alkali The evaporation isstopped atsuch a'point 4 silicates. thatthe resulting roduct contains g %o or TfPriorfto mypresent invention it has been less of moisture. tisa glassys olid ion ar material from'alkali silicates by the Bea suflicientlyitiuid to iformlarg e bubbles when ing of Hi e Hydrated suBsEance 50 th with and thezmoisture escapes during the; subsequent without-agitation. My study of the subject heating or baking step to be describedy indjcates,hovvever, that thezsuper'ior product The intermediate product i-aslprepared 1-? which my invention-contemplates requires above or bypther nethods (lg scrib d 70 the'observance ofconditions of heating of is .now baked at4temperatures i-between 202 eend' I 1 on the h 'ca'l ro ,-the, u .i r uct preierab ly ,material, which so .far as is and 5 "iovvnto ine have not'beendisclosed in such es esireduu A N I i ti gpr p s hQ f he B h FJgitQ ion and in a closed, uniform]. or

' thi r t-T i. v FEW ailse eusi ei he 1 i. v tepffli" .My 'study L'of 'thexproblen presented has H e maberial beeng pl gced gin it bl i 1 further shown that it is highly desirable that molds. 1he;.heatiug is gzo fi w i the insulating materialbeof a'unifor 'el- ,olsture coiitentfhgsbeen uer y p 1 5-..-. .IMJJ

- pr p mfifif'. ve T have now discovered th w m,

. QP 'O 11c avlng this structure may be ob in out n i W W0 S s ,w y 8 care 11 oservance. alias-1 aads sth uxemew u uem con 1 ions as will be set forth iu detaih the molds. the bak ing bas beenv The invention lso contemplates theltnanii: out plgopegly, ille latter operation l gay fibg fi facturelof t improved insulat' Qr'naterial performed yithoutldifliculty as the -product' in the form of molded shapes or's iiis, where; slightly. g ilt piaythenbe cut -into v v by-the-use of a binder is obviated. 1. ntables apesgfiiruse. fln order that my invention maybe-fully inaytbezgiven T roofcoa'tin andthis ma be-d Liiider stooilnovv give the ollowin "em-mw z a I"? f s p 0 I. r, Iii. 7'13 3 5 i 2o p l feraibly Without agitation at n a dm erac-silicate ture slightl below eric' der may :heated-with 51451 c i 95 -fl fi e-h u fimkq 29 .1 we i m e q q v'e redevth me a z seiliqti qis fm' 'r i nttfl 'f'ih e21 i n ip uwebi m mal-twe mAnu wntflge iilhes' h kJiB l' il yslni q r H: r this manneijit isireadily'possibleto accoiiitrimmings progiuoed fr m cutting the yfilrevepdriauongsogt han ii: qteime xth he gigaglsj iggivq l zioil'th iliiExagiple fife Mamas ne: iitivapiffihioliglithe 'A'nhzdrous glki i sllicate has; similar Tar-5 10 oposed to produoe aheat insulating, celluat mperatures .above,.2()0. C; i no longer F2 the lc'nlazd amount {oI water clave 't'h g and the temperature and pressure maintained duced, and the resulting material has a wideat such values as to cause the mixture'to become homogeneous and to be fluid enough materialkand for other purposes.

to be dischar ed into molds under ressure. The pressure WIEHHLEHB molds may men 5" gradually released as the mass cools. This produces an intermediate product which may be treated in the manner already described. In the practice of the method as outlined in the foregoing examples, it may be pointed out that the exact amount of moisture to be "left-in the intermediate product varies somewhatwith the composition of the silicate so lution, i. e. with the ratio of Na,O to SiO the higher this ratio, the lower the moisture which should be left in the product prior to the baking step in order to avoid large cell formation. As a rule, however, all commercial silicates must be reduced to at least oisture and in some cas have obtained a satisfacto final product.

By the use of the metho s above described in detail, a product having low specific gravity and small uniform cells is produced. I attribute this beneficial property imparted to the material to the fact that the mass is relati vely non-fluid when the moisture is driven off during the second or baking step. I have found that when it is attempted to carry out the-final heating step with semi-fluid silicate that large andirregular cells are proly varying specific ra-vity. I have furthermore found that by the use of agitation which has beenpreviously proposed, a considerable breaking down of the cells and crushing of the mass results, and thus a product of inferior grade is produced. Furthermore, "this mode of heating usually requires an open oven, the use of which makes it difiicult to obtain a uniform heat-ing.

L. My experimentation has indicated that is-not necessarily the formation of a crust in itself which causes trouble, but the fact that the'bottomlayer-of the drying material has a. different moisture. content than the middle layer and that this has a diflerent moisture g t ing inch in the longest dimension. -.For

he'most partfthe cells are very much mall'er. s ite of the small size of the cells, the "speci c gravityof the materialiob tained is W0. and can be reduced to; as The meme 2. A slab composed wholly of alkali silib tweenaoo sooe 7, In the method of treating of this extremely low specific gravity with the small cell size and the fact that the material canbe made in gpieces as ft hick as three inches or'more renders the product one of great value as a heat insulator, sonnd-proofill} As has been stated I may, and preferably is either molded to, or may be cut to the desired size and shape. The use of the material in this form has the advantage over its use in divided form or pellets, in that there ,is no tendency of the undivided material to settle and thus become non-uniform. WhatI claim is: y p

Alkali silicate material in the form of a uniformly. s b not less than one inch in thickness, the cells of which do not exceed one-quarter inch in their longest dimension, and having specific gravity not ex ceeding 0.15 but greater than approximate- I as low a moisture content as 20% I cafe material not less than one inch .in thickness and of uniform cellular structure and having a specific gravity not exceeding 0.15. 3. In the method of making a heat insulator, the step which consist in evaporating a commercial alkali silicate solution atv such a rate as not substantially to exceed the rate of diifusion of water vaporthrough the drying film formed thereupon unt-il said solution not substantially. overj35 water. f l

4. In the method of making a heat insula tor, the, step which consists in evaporating under apressure'not less than atmospheric a commercial alkali silicate solution at such arate as not substantially to exceed the rate of difi'usion of water vapor through the drying film formed thereupon until said solution contains not substantially over' 35% water. j .5. In the method of making alheat insulator, the steps which consist in; evaporating hydrous alkali silicate at .superatmospheric pressure and regulating 'the amount of heat supplied sothat the rate of evaporation does not substantially exceedithe rate 'offdifi'usion'of water' vapor through the drying film formed thereupon. v. Q6. Themethod of treating alkali jsilicate material which consists in heating same in the form of a; glass solid totemperatures 7 lg and coating the Ina-12o terial with a waterproofing substance, H alkali silicate material the step which 'conslsts in heating said material'in the form of a glassy solid without agitationfin a closed oven to'tem- 2 peratures'between 1200-500 degrees C.

i 8. the method of treating alkali silicate material, the steps which consist heating s m er l w c fi e on 1w. rem Wa r h r iwie s id m a s i the 106.- COMPOSITIONS, COATING 0R PLASTIC.

form of a glassy solid, forming the said ma- 10. In the method of treating alkali siliterial in molds, and then baking same in uncate material, the step which consists in predivided form to temperatures between 200 liminarily heating said material to dehy- 500 degrees C. to form a substantially unidrate same, said heating step being carried 5 form cellular mass. out at from 100-200 degrees C. at a pressure 20 9. In the method of treating alkali silicate of substantially 1.5 atmospheres absolute and material, the step which consists in relimiat such a rate that said material is evaponarily heating said material to de ydrate rated without excessive Stratification into I same, said heating step being carried out unlayers of substantially varying moisture 10 der temperature-pressure conditions equivacontent. 2 lent of 100 degrees C. at atmospheric pres- In testimony whereof I have affixed my sure, and at such a rate that said material signatureto this specification.

is evaporated without exoe1ve stratification into layers of substantially varying moisture NATHANIEL M. ELIAS. 15 content. 

